Our favorite Beast got us underway early on when his glancing header directed an Ashley Young free kick from the left wing into Petr Cech's goal. There was some dispute as to whether or not he was in an offside position, but meh.

Lazarus then decided to wake up from the dead once more as he picked up a long ball just inside Chelsea's half, beat two men, and unleashed a fierce shot that left Cech with no chance. It was absolutely magical. The most amazing thing about it was probably that he ended up shooting it at the goal, as opposed to missing it like he is wont to do. Let's hope that this resurrection lasts and that he doesn't regress into the "I'm good enough to do whatever I want" stage.

Wayne Rooney continued his fine form by scoring another goal, his ninth of the year. What has become a trademark Phil Jones charge into the box led to a bit of a defensive scramble by Terry and co. and ended with a clearance hitting Nani, before bouncing to Wayne Rooney who hits it low and hard into the net.

Bit disappointed with the Chelsea goal. Torres latched on to a through ball by Anelka which fooled Jones and Evans and left Torres with a simple tap in. It would have made news seeing as he hardly ever scores for Chelsea. But a shocking miss later on proved his critics right.

The Reaction

Main thing here, we managed to nab three points against Chelsea. Sir Alex, me, and my viewing buddies also came to the conclusion that it was a very strange game. It was a very open, end-to-end kind of game, and definitely what you wouldn't expect from the modern day United-Chelsea fixtures. Nonetheless, it would have been a great game for the neutrals to watch, and an even better one if you're a United fan.

So, star performer? I'd have to say Nani. He was being a thorn in Chelsea's side for most of the game, and his best moment was undoubtedly that goal which might be an early contender for goal of the year. On the other wing, Young was being just as effective and creating magic for Rooney and Chicharito to feed off. That being said, our central midfield was a bit of an issue today. Early on, the culprit was Anderson. We thought he was having a renaissance, but there was a big lack of concentration on his part throughout the game, especially early on when he gave the ball away multiple times. Also, Fletcher did his job and nothing more, a fact that also holds true for Michael Carrick who came on and made no significant impact. The defense was solid and de Gea kept us in a few times, also Torres did well stopping Chelsea from scoring late on in the game. His run may have beaten de Gea, but thankfully he put it just past the post.

Chelsea being Chelsea though, the inevitable ugly scenes showed themselves throughout the game. Ivanovic and Cole ended up being the biggest dickheads of the night, arguing with the referee over obvious fouls and lunging into tackles with no regard for human life. Well, that's what it looked like when Cole slid in on Chicharito and left him with a leg that's still numb six hours later.

Nevertheless, a good win for United, and one that has us topping the league outright. Take that City. Take it.

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